Nevada Men's and Women's Cross Country begin their respective 2024 campaigns Saturday, competing at the George Kyte Invitational hosted by Northern Arizona in Flagstaff, Arizona.
The meet is set for Buffalo Park, with the men's 4.5-mile race is set for a 1:30 p.m. start followed by the women's 2.5-mile race at 2:30 p.m.
Making up the George Kyte's Division I field along with the Wolf Pack, on the women's side, are national No. 1 Northern Arizona, Arizona State, Grand Canyon, and UNLV. Along with the Wolf Pack on the men's side, No. 4 Northern Arizona and Grand Canyon make up the Division I entries. In total, runners from 14 teams will compete in each race.
Saturday's race is the first of three regular-season meets for each Wolf Pack squad ahead of Nov. 1's Mountain West Men's and Women's Cross Country Championships in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
The Pack teams will compete at the UCR Invitational in Riverside on September 21, and at the Dellinger Invitational in Springfield, Oregon, October 11 before turning their attention to the postseason.
Nevada will also host, for the first time, an NCAA Regional in 2024. The NCAA Mountain Regional Championships are set for November 15 at Washoe Country Golf Course.
Daniel Sayo leads the Wolf Pack men into the new campaign following a 44th-place finish at last year's regional. Sayo's finish was the second-best for a Nevada men's runner at an NCAA Regional since the program's reinstatement in 2019. Prior to that, Sayo put together the program's top individual finish at the Mountain West Championships by coming in 22nd last fall.
On the women's side, Claire Nelson (37th at the Mountain West Championships) and Ashley Boone (54th) are the top returners from a season ago. Boone was the Wolf Pack's top finisher at the NCAA Mountain Regional in Lubbock, Texas, setting a PR at 21:36.3.
University of Nevada, Reno Athletics contributed to this report.
